The county planning board approved several final plats as well as a final plat for Phase IV and preliminary plats for Phases VI and VII for Ocoee Mountain Club at its July 15 meeting.

Ocoee Mountain Club’s Phases VI and VII will be north of the current Phase IV in the development. The 50-acre tract will have 112 lots ranging in size from 0.4 acre to 0.6 acre. According to surveyor Josh Morgan, this property was formerly owned by Ken Bishop and does not include property on Cookson Creek Road, although the property can be accessed through both Cookson Creek and Sloan Gap Roads.

John Hoyt Pippenger asked developers who would be building the water and sewer lines or if they were planning to use the lines already in existence. Developers said they would not be using the current lines, but would build new lines and tie them onto Benton City lines.

Kandi Bramlett, Register of Deeds, asked if the sewer work on the project had been started yet and if there was a letter of credit or bond amount on file somewhere. Developers said contracts should be signed that week and work would begin immediately. Morgan said the information was noted on the plats.

Bramlett said she had asked Benton Mayor Jerry Stephens if he knew the amount of the bonds, but that he said he did not know, either. Bramlett asked for copies of the letters of credit to be shown. “As a resident of Benton, I would like to know,” Bramlett said.

Pippenger asked if there was a letter of credit for each phase. Glen Fetzner, one of the developers, said part was in a cash bond and part was letters of credit. Pippenger asked if the city of Benton would be ultimately responsible if there was a default on the letter of credit. Fetzner said they would.

In other business, Final plats were approved for a two-lot subdivision dividing the Opal Cross property on Mountain View Road, a two-lot subdivision off Belltown Road dividing the land of Mary Rose and a two-lot subdivision reconfiguring the land of Diane Nesbit. Final approval was also given to the Ocoee Ridge subdivision, located off Bob White Drive.